Brides Contest - The Valentine Bride

BRIDE BUZZ
I had a lovely post today - my own copy of The Valentine Bride - Liz Fielding's book that's in our joint contest - HERE COME THE BRIDES.
Now all I need is some time to read it. But as I'm preparing for a trip to Dublin this weekend, time is going to be a little short. But guess what book I can read on the plane?

So until I can read this for myself, I'm going to tell you what Liz had to say when I asked her to give me some detals about this book - and other new titles she has coming up.

THE VALENTINE BRIDE

“Dammit, Louise,” he said, “you haven’t changed one bit –”

“Dammit, Max, neither have you!” She was on her feet, in his face. “You’re still the same arrogant, over-bearing, despotic, pig-headed idiot you always were!”

Working with Max was never going to be easy. There’s always been something between them – something they’ve done their best to ignore. Family loyalty wins, but Louise extorts a very personal price from Max for her co-operation and sparks fly from the start.

The Valentine Bride is the final book in the Harlequin Romance series about "THE BRIDES OF BELLA LUCIA" . This series of books tells the story of the Valentine family, their luxurious Italian restaurants, their feuds, their secrets and their loves.

Here is what Liz told me about her February book:

Louise has just discovered that she was adopted and that everything she believed about herself was a lie. But angry as she is, she knows how much she owes her family and she'll use her PR skills to help launch the Bella Lucia restaurants into a new era before she walks away to a new life with her half-sister in Australia. Unfortunately that means working with Max. And the last time they worked together, he sacked her very publicly, in front of a restaurant full of diners. Right after she threw a fully loaded vase at his head. Their relationship has always been ... explosive. She'll work with him. But it's going to cost him. And she's goingto name her own price.

And she added that she had a picture of Christian Bale who was her inspiration for Max over on the Brides of Bella Lucia blog. I've shown that here for you - but if you want to know more about the whole series and all the books in it, that lead up to Max and Louise's story, then you'll find it there, along with lots of fascinating information about the whole series and the authors who have written books for it.

You can also read an extract from The Valentine Bride, to whet your appetite, on Liz's web site here.

Next up for Liz is The Secret Life of Lady Gabriella (May 2007) I asked Liz for a summary of this upcoming book and I have to say that what she told me makes the book sound like a must-read.

THE SECRET LIFE OF LADY GABRIELLA

Ellie March, drop-out English teacher, is living a double life. In her "day job", she's plain Ellie , an emotionally unattached and much in demand cleaning lady, waitress and house-sitter. In her secret life the one she's made up -- she's the aristocratic Lady Gabriella March, wife, mother of three perfect children and an entire menagerie of well bred pets, the "lifestyle" columnist for MILADY magazine. Oh, and in her spare time she's writing an historical novel.

It's all going incredibly well -- apart from the novel -- until Dr Benedict Faulkner, the owner of the house in which she's "sitting", without his knowledge, turns up unexpectedly. Then the editor of "Milady" gets more demanding, the menagerie becomes a reality and one of the neighbours starts shooting at her. Actually she could have coped with all of that if she hadn't made the really big mistake of falling in love with Ben, a man who just wants her gone from his life...

If it all sounds like a bit of romcom romp, well it probably is, but you need to remember that Harlequin Romance is strong on emotion and since this one made Liz's editor weep there's obviously something deeper going on.

And also don't forget that Liz is a double RITA winner, most recently for her heart-tugging, emotional novel The Marriage Miracle. (Anne McAllister is a double RITA winner too - I feel really out of my depth with these two great authors!) So you cvan expect a moving, heart-twisiting story in The Secret Life of Lady Gabriella. I can't wait!

I also asked Liz what she's working on now and I was thrilled with her answer. You see, I've read The Sheikh's Guarded Heart andwhen I did, I really wanted to know more about a scondary character - Zahir. So I was so pleased when Liz told me that he is the hero of the book she's working on at the moment.:


The work in progress is THE SHEIKH & THE CHAUFFEUR. Sheikh Zahir al Khalid made his bow in The Sheikh's Guarded Heart and from the very beginning looked like a character who would grow into his own story.He's spent the last few years turning a miserable little desert tour operation into a major company. There's only one thing missing from his portfolio. A wife.

No problem. He doesn't have to take time out of his busy schedule to find a suitable bride. In his culture marriages are arranged. His bride will be virtuous, charming and from one of the best families in Ramal Hamrah his mother will see to that. It's the way things have been done for centuries and it works.

Then he meets Diana Metcalf, a very unsuitable woman, whose only ambition in life, apparently, is to drive a London Taxi - a pink one and be her own boss. A woman, who has a figure made for sin and a smile that warms him to his heart.

I'm really looking forward to these new books from Liz - and don't forget that if you fancy a chance of winning not just Liz's Valentine Bride but the lovely Anne McAllister's The Santorini Bride - and The Italian's Forced Bride (or Sicilian Husband, Blackmaield Bride) by someone called Kate Walker, then check out the HERE COME THE BRIDES contest on all our web sites and get your answers in to us.Remember - you can enter this contest on each web site which gives you three chances to win.

And watch the blogs for updates and any new developments.